Mohamed Salah has paid tribute to his Liverpool team-mate Diogo Jota, who was involved in a fatal car crash with his brother Andre Silva
Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Liverpool at Villa Park on February 19, 2025
Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota during the Premier League match between Aston Villa and Liverpool at Villa Park on February 19, 2025
(Image: Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
Mohamed Salah has admitted he is ‘frightened’ to return for pre-season following the death of Diogo Jota as he paid an emotional tribute to his Liverpool team-mate. Jota was killed in a car accident along with his brother - fellow professional footballer Andre Silva - in the early hours of Thursday morning (July 3).
It's been reported the accident, on the A52 known as Palacios de Sanabria, near the city of Zamora, was the result of a blown-out tyre which led to their vehicle veering off the road.
The brothers had been travelling in the Zamora region of Sanabri and were making their way toward a ferry that was bound for the UK ahead of a return to pre-season training.
The bodies of both footballers were returned to their native Portugal on Thursday evening and a wake is scheduled in Gondomar, a district of Porto, on Friday (July 4) ahead of a funeral service at Igreja Matriz de Gondomar (the Mother Church of Gondomar) on Saturday (July 5).
Tributes have flooded in in honour of Jota from the world of football and beyond.
And Salah has become the latest member of the Liverpool squad to honour the Portuguese as he shared his devastation and admitted he was ‘lost of words’ in an emotional tribute.
“I am truly lost for words,” Salah wrote on social media, posting alongside a greyscale picture of himself and Jota celebrating a Liverpool goal.
“Until yesterday, I never thought there would be something that would frighten me of going back to Liverpool after the break.
“Team mates come and go but not like this. It’s going to be extremely difficult to accept that Diogo won’t be there when we go back.
“My thoughts are with his wife, his children, and of course his parents who suddenly lost their children.
“Those close to Diogo and his brother Andre need all the support they can get. They will never be forgotten.”